


Supply Run Hooliganism

by Archivus



Series: Reports from Space [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Team getting supplies, mischief & mayhem, space trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27778642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archivus/pseuds/Archivus
Summary: They are within a system on the far side of the Milky Way. Stocking the Zephyr is easy enough. It just takes time & money unless you are in space. Well, you still need both while out there. But rest assured, with The Space Menace onboard, it'll be a piece of cake. Or not.
Relationships: Agent Piper & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Daisy Johnson & Agent Davis, Natasha Romanov & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Antoine Triplett
Series: Reports from Space [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612480
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same universe as Of Quest and Prophecy, written around the same time I wrote chapters 7 – 8 of that story. In chapter 7 – Project: Classified, it was mentioned that Daisy went on trips in space and some other people joined her, including some characters from the movies. 
> 
> You don’t have to read Of Quest and Prophecy as this one can also be read as a standalone. Just a few noteworthy info of the universe where this story takes place:  
> 1\. Team SHIELD has always been in contact with some/all of the Avengers.  
> 2\. The timeline should be after Infinity War but before the event in Endgame.  
> 3\. Daisy was once fostered by the Carters.  
> 4\. Trip and Davis are alive in this universe.
> 
> It is loosely connected with the previous stories in this series.

The boss was frowning. She was scowling at the tablet in her hand. A small groove appeared between the dark arches of her brows. Then, she was typing furiously, and scowled again. That was not good. Now was definitely not the time to report their predicament.

However, if they don’t deal with this issue soon, they’d be in trouble later or a lot sooner. Considering their reputation or his boss’ specifically, the latter was more likely. Hell, even her name could cause so much mayhem. They’re probably still under pursuit, dammit. They had to do this.

He shivered when he remembered what happened the last time they docked on Torak, a beautiful exoplanet, for a supply run. Needless to say, they ran off immediately after they partially finished with their business – without paying.

Davis couldn’t say that they didn’t know it at the time, but the idiot they trashed and conned (by putting their tabs on him) was a prince of a tyrant, who was actually hunting them for what they did on his home planet. And the idiot was trying to hit on Davis’ boss whom he didn’t recognize at first because of her disguise. ‘Trying’ was the operative word though because soon after that all hell broke loose.

A simple attempt at flirting led to a scuffle that damaged the whole building before they brought their fight to the streets, which caused such a ruckus in the middle of a busy city. That itself catapulted the already disreputable Quake to stardom in infamy. The notorious terran became wanted in several sectors in this quadrant alone. To say that she was not proud of her status was an understatement. She was very pleased indeed and unashamedly took advantage of it.

Ironically, in space, she did earn her reputations unlike on earth where some people still blamed her for anything they could blame on her. His boss could be the reason of any white hair he had. Sometimes he felt as though he was the most rational one among the crew. The adult among errant youths. It did keep him on his toes to always be ready to pilot the Zephyr out of harm way at a moment’s notice. Well, at least they all had fun most of the time.

He sighed. Davis thought that they would be no more shenanigans from her, but with her family in tow this time around, that didn’t seem to be in the cards. Trip was fine, most of the time. He gallantly helped to contain the others from pranking sprees– except, there was no luck there. Since leaving Torak, the pranks had gotten excessive and no one wanted to call it quit.

For as long as he knew them, only two persons he perceived could truly control them. One was Agent May. Well, that went without saying. Daisy put her on a pedestal. Even the Black Widow respected her very highly. Hell, her glare could make even the most hardened villains to quake in their boots. She still unnerved him sometimes to this day.

The second person was former Deputy Director Maria Hill. Sometimes, she didn’t have to say a word. A pointed look and a raised eyebrow was enough to put a stop to whatever shenanigans they were doing. Aside from being their charismatic commander that one couldn’t help but to follow her order (sometimes begrudgingly), she also had practice dealing with them since early age.

They were her family after all, blood notwithstanding. She knew them inside out. She did spend a lot of her school days minding Daisy and the young Carters. And she was married to Natasha Romanoff. That was probably the only reason the redhead heeded her words.

With the Carters and the Black Widow onboard, truthfully saying, it was fun. However, when they came to blows with other aliens, it was best for Davis to ready the Zephyr for a quick lift off, because they’d be running from angry mobs – usually due to his boss’ notoriety.

Sometimes it was because of misunderstandings or language barriers. Once was because of Chewie, Daisy’s temperamental pet. Other times, it was due to just their looks. Fucking intimidating! There was even one incident that happened because of eye contact, for goodness sake!

They were lucky that there were only two big incidents – both with said prince douchebag – so far. It had only been two months after they began their latest trip. He didn’t want to include the other trips’ considerable mischiefs – too many to count. Admittedly, he had a part in them too. But, one can never be assured of trouble-free adventures with this clan, because Trouble was their middle name – like literally, for all of them. 

To put it simply, since she was the only widely known member of the crew, the terran Quake was immediately branded as the most wanted by that planet’s authority and a few others afterward – with ‘and her crew/hooligans’ attached post-script. They did have a few samples of those posters both in hard copies and digital version somewhere on the Zephyr just to keep track of unwelcome territories and hostile space communities.

He did not want to think of the incidents that happened during their last jaunt in space where they returned to a planet that still remembered their disastrous visit or the space station they almost blew up. But they had to make a stop soon. And Davis could just imagine the troubles that would follow. He sighed again. Heavily.


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha Romanoff glanced amusingly at Davis when she saw that he kept looking at Daisy and tried to say something but then he stopped. Something was bothering him. If it concerned the spaceship, he’d better decided to say what was on his mind. But every time he wanted to speak, and Daisy furrowed her brows or scowling at the tablet in her hands, he grimaced.

This was the third time she joined Daisy on her space trips. Her debut to space voyage was not something to be proud of, initially. It was disorienting and the nothingness of space almost overwhelmed her. However, as days passed by, she found it exhilarating to be travelling in space once she acclimated to her surroundings. From that moment on, she enjoyed the journey so much that she went on another one and then another. These space trips did help her to deal with her loss in the hands of Thanos.

She looked at the Inhuman. Daisy could be intimidating when she wanted to be. Hell, she could look quite menacing even when she was deep in thought about something wicked. She once heard Wanda said that she found it adorable. Natasha didn’t get how she came to that conclusion. It was a forgone conclusion anyway because that girl was smitten. That, she got. Right now, she looked like a combination of both. No wonder the poor guy seemed to be debating whether to disturb her or not.

Davis could see the Black Widow looked in his direction, smirking amusingly and raising an eyebrow that indicated she undoubtedly knew something was bothering him and to just say it. Sometimes he wondered how he ended up working closely with her. An Avenger no less. Sometimes there were more of them on this ship at one point or another. He remembered when Hawkeye was also onboard; the pranks they played on the others were on a different level. The retaliations from their prank victims were brutal too – more to his peace of mind.

He always believed that Daisy Johnson collected deadly and/or capable associates like one collecting precious rare gems. On Earth, in space and even in different dimensions. That made her dangerous and he was glad they were on the same side, which they could rely on when things got tough.

These people did not mind to get their hands dirty for good causes or even the less good ones. If he were honest, he would say that they found a lot more satisfaction making waves on the calm seas especially in space rather than be do-gooders, which led them to their current situation. After much deliberation, he decided to address the immediate issue to his captain.

“Boss, we’re running low in fuel. I suggest we stock up as soon as possible.” Daisy Johnson looked up from her tablet as Davis reported from his pilot seat.

“We just refueled a month ago. How the hell did we burn it so fast? There is no leakage, is there?” She was clearly puzzled by this. And she was still scowling. Her face softened when Chewie, her alien pet feline, who was sprawling on her lap nuzzled her stomach asking for her attention. She indulged him just as much as she indulged those who were close to her. Heck, a fight once erupted because of that cat.

Gulping discreetly, Davis carefully answered that no, there was no leakage. Thank goodness for that. It would be a bitch to do repairs in space. He still remembered that one occasion where their fuel line was damaged and they were almost annihilated by the Chronicoms. “We’ve been involved in a few conflicts, high speed chases and the last time we refueled, it was less than half-tank full.”

“Why on earth didn’t we fill up the tank till it’s full?”

It was silent for a long while. Everybody was looking at Daisy in disbelief.

“What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember why we had to rush out of that planet?”

That question was met with silence. Daisy only blinked. Once. Twice.

“Ok. Tell me why?”

“Daisy, we had to leave in a hurry because the Torakins were chasing us after you and the prince trashed the whole area.”

“Who the hell is the Torakins?” the Inhuman asked, looking nonplussed. They were not sure whether the Inhuman really forgot about that incident or if she was just pretending that such thing didn’t happen.

“Planet Torak. Remember?” Kevin offered skeptically.

~~~~####~~~~

**_A month ago_ **

They planned to rendezvous with their Inhuman allies – Ford, Lexus and Magda – after they left a fleet of angry pirates in the dust and they reconvened their journey together. Since the trio’s spaceship was way bigger than Zephyr Two, they docked their smaller transportation in their hangar.

A few days were spent in such a relaxed manner. Daisy and Magda spent most of their time in the hangar, performing a thorough maintenance and upgraded the Zephyr. Sometimes Natasha would join along when they were working on the programming aspects of their ride.

Sharon and Trip set up camp in the lab with Lexus. There were so many things they could do there. Once, they built a robot cat. Chewie didn’t like it and he told them just that – by disfiguring the poor robot to small bits. Piper, Davis and Kevin caught up with Ford on their adventures and sharing information they believed was vital to the safety of their journey.

They were enjoying the mundane routines on the larger spacecraft and the tranquility of not being under pursuit, unless one counted the prank wars they played on each other. Not even Ford or Chewie managed to escape the consequences of their competitive streaks.

The former simply exposed what was on their minds using his power in retaliation and they slowed down just a tad in pranking him. The only one whose mind he couldn’t probe was Daisy. So, he resorted to anything else he could think about, including lacing her precious food with laxative. That did not end well for everyone. The woman could actually hold a nasty grudge and he learned his lesson. However, that did not stop him from revenge pranks.

The flerken ended up giving everyone the cold shoulder, hissing menacingly whenever anyone barred Daisy, came near him. He became quite like a feral feline, showing his fangs and swiping his dangerous claws to anyone who had the gall to try to pet him. Not even his favorite food and toys could budge him from eyeing them with distrust.

One day, they heard chatter of a business transaction that was about to take place on a nearby planet called Torak. Usually, they would not be bothered with it, unless it benefited them. However, one of the parties involved in said business was someone they had close encounters with before. A prince that possessed an overzealous interest in them.

So, the three young Inhumans had the _brilliant_ idea of messing with everyone’s favorite royal in the ass. Besides, they could buy supplies that were rapidly dwindling mostly due to the pranks and their insatiable appetites for food for the next leg of their voyage.

They did somehow live up to their reputations. It was no wonder numerous space authorities and felonious communities hated their guts. After a few years of playing devil advocates in space, one could always be heard to refer to them as The Space Menace and her HooligansTM. In fact, they had a few posters with said writing on it. Luckily for them, only Daisy’s face was almost clearly portrayed – enough but not quite. The others were only depicted as wicked looking gangsters or monsters of their haters’ imaginations.

They agreed to a truce to the prank wars until this mission was taken care of. And so they landed on Torak, after they registered the trio’s vessel (though they were known to forge documents too as they were also wanted for being in cahoots with Quake) when the planet’s space immigration authority demanded identification.

Torak was a beautiful planet with clean air and amazing ambiance. The view was breathtaking. The people were quite friendly. The facilities were top-notch. The planet was very advance in science and technology that was way beyond what they had on Earth.

However, the buildings in the area they visited looked like they were trapped in time - if they were on Earth that was. Perhaps, such outlook was something common on the alien planet. It felt like they just entered a fairytale land. There were castles with turrets, colorful structures and unique architectures all over the city proper. But it only looked like that on the surface because each building they went into was very modern and had the technology that Tony Stark would only be able to dream of having.

They spent a few hours checking out the place as well as their target's whereabouts; and just enjoying themselves while trying to be inconspicuous lest their presence reached the prince or his cronies. Feeling satisfied that no one knew them, and no royal thugs in close vicinity, they went to buy supplies. Once that was done, Piper, Davis and Ford stayed on their spaceship to safeguard it and to make sure refueling was done for both vessels. They also arranged the newly bought supplies in the storage.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew were out looking for signs and proof of the transaction they were supposed to interrupt. It didn’t take them long to find the prince’s spaceship. Tapping into his communication network was a piece of cake. Finding out the commodity that was likely to be traded incensed them. It strengthened their justification to spoiling the business negotiation.

They also found out the discussion would take place in a private room at a nondescript but questionable tavern. Obviously, they would be going there to mess up with the meeting. And that was why they were at the tavern a few hours later. They had everything mapped out. However, things didn’t really go as they planned. And in their experience, when things went wrong, it went horribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their 3 Inhuman friends played significant roles in the previous installment of the series.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened on a certain exoplanet a month ago.

**_Planet Torak, a month ago_ **

After Davis, Piper and Ford returned to the Inhumans’ spaceship with their supplies and see to the ship’s refuelling process, the others went on a recon mission. There were a few taverns in the city with the potential of being the location for the prince’s business transaction as they could not get the exact establishment from the communication network hey hacked into. They only got ‘the tavern’. Which one? They had no idea.

So, they split up. Daisy would go alone because it’d be best that no one was with her if people recognised her. Magda teamed up with Kevin and Trip with Sharon. Lexus and Natasha would check the last one. He would then open the portal to bring them to the right building once the right tavern was confirmed if needed.

In the meantime, the other three back on the ship was running back end and monitoring the prince’s spaceship and the chatters on the planet’s communication network. They were hoping to exclude any involvement of the authority in this mission. That would be messy.

It wasn’t long before they found out where the meeting would be. It was the tavern where Natasha and Lexus were checking up. There were a number of the prince’s henchmen whom Lexus recognized. And from the conversation they overheard, they had at most half an hour before the prince arrived.

So, they all headed to said tavern. Less than 30 minutes later, they were all in place, staking out the place. All except Daisy since she was checking out the pub located the farthest from there. So, Lexus went to fetch her, leaving Natasha to fill everybody in. They also planted bugs at strategic places. Soon after, the prince made his appearance along with his entourage.

To blend in, they ordered more drinks and some even played pool and threw some darts. All the typical things to do in a pub. When Daisy arrived, she joined a card game played near the secluded area where the prince and his business partner disappeared to. All the while, listening to the meeting relayed through the bug they planted under the table.

When they found out what the transaction exactly entailed, they were disgusted. Apparently, they had a group of girls undoubtedly kidnapped (and caged on his spaceship) from a few planets for sale. This included some from Torak itself.

Obviously, the stuck up royalty didn’t learn his lesson and still active in intergalactic slave trades. He must still have a few bases that Daisy and Co. hadn’t destroyed during the side mission they did while finding Fitz years ago. Or perhaps, he had new ones. He was wealthy, so that was plausible.

With that information retrieved, they came up with a solution. They would sneak up on board the prince’s vessel and confirmed the intel. If they could not free the captives themselves, they intended to involve the authority in the hope of locking the prince for good.

So, once Ford confirmed the location of the prince’s vessel, Lexus opened a portal to a spot near the spaceship and they began the next phase of the mission, leaving Daisy, Natasha and Kevin behind to waylay the prince until all abductees were rescued. Once that was underway, Daisy went to the bar for a drink, waiting patiently for a report from the other team.

"You wouldn’t believe this. There are over twenty of them here including kids."

Sharon’s voice came through the comm. Her incredulity was followed by Trip’s disgust.

"Man, this asshole really is something."

“Any records of illegal business you can find onboard?”

Daisy asked hopefully.

"None so far."

“Take a video of the prisoners. That ought to be enough as evidence to incriminate him.” Natasha suggested.

"Good idea."

“Okay. Execute Bleach Protocol. Lexus, probe the ship’s system. The rest of you, feel free to knock the crew out. Then, get those people out of there.” Daisy ordered.

It’d be safer to rescue those poor people without the pain of being stealthy. There were just too many of them. The prince’s thugs would realize that sooner or later. And if the team found some things that caught their eyes, they could procure them if they wanted to. No one would stop them.

"Copy that."

“What’s Bleach Protocol?” Kevin asked curiously.

“Clean up and retrieval mission or when dealing with people like the prince.” Daisy answered matter of factly. Now they only had to wait for the task to be completed. In the meantime, she would enjoy the drinks this planet had to offer.

"Daisy, Bleach Protocol’s completed, ship’s probed, crew’s neutralized and all prisoners are out."

That was the cue to end their visit on this planet.

“Good. Send them to a safe place. Return to base in twenty. We’ll leave the planet immediately.”

She had just finished her last drink and was about to leave as a guy came to sit next to her.

“What a pretty girl like you doing, sitting here all alone?”

She rolled her eyes. He tried to flirt but she was not in the mood. Besides, she already had her eyes on someone special back on Earth, who was so much better than any aliens she met.

However, the alien wouldn’t have it. So, he was an asshat that wouldn’t take no as if he was the best male specimen in the entire universe where everyone should be thrilled to get his attention.

She just wanted to get back to the spaceship and continue their trip. Daisy stood and turned to leave only to find his fingers on her wrist. So she twisted her wrist and got out of his hold. Then, she threw his drink on his face.

Suffice to say, he exploded in rage and tried to manhandle her. As if he could. This was Quake. Yes she was a damsel and she was somehow in distress to an outsider’s point of view. However, she didn’t need any hero to help save her. She looked him in the eyes and simply twisted the wrist that was clutching her arm and told him off as she let him go.

“When a girl says no, it means no.”

But the douchebag was apparently deaf, blind and incapable of understanding the meaning of the word ‘no.’ He demonstrated his idiocy and assholery by groping her backside. Of course the Inhuman got mad. No one touched her without her consent. And she just, due to her quick reflex, quaked him.

“You!” He growled. There was a hint of recognition in his tone besides indignation.

Uh-oh. Great. The prince recognized her. She wished they ditched him on the other side of the galaxy without any means of travelling when they clashed three weeks ago.

The prince pounced and chaos erupted. The glasses on the counter became weapons. The stools and the bottles behind the bar were broken and people flocked out of the building lest they got trapped in the middle of a bar brawl.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Kevin watched the scene with a resigned conclusion. There was no way to leave without creating a scene. Not with the way the prince behaved. They had better left now before things got out of hand. Well, things had gone to hell in a hand basket anyway – literally there was a huge basket somewhere in the tavern full of questionable items Natasha and Kevin used as weapons when the prince’s henchmen joined the fray.

They fought using anything they could get their hands on including destructive weapons the proprietor of the tavern hid under the counter. The poor alien thought he could diffuse the fight. Sadly, he was mistaken and paid for it with a soon-to-be goose egg on the head as he was knocked out.

It only took a few minutes after the tavern was emptied before the whole building collapsed, trapping some of the thugs under the ruin. But that didn’t deter the two enemies from continuing with their feud. The fight resumed on the street.

The prince was so angry that he started attacking mindlessly. Daisy, to be fair, didn’t use her powers after her second attempt brought down the building. She mainly used it to shield the pedestrians from getting injured. She was probably toying with him. That didn’t mean he was a bad combatant. He was quite decent in hand to hand. He even had a couple of rings that shot plasma rays, which contributed to most of the destruction.

It was such a spectacle that major news channels broadcast their fight live within minutes after the tavern collapsed. Civilians also stopped to watch them despite the dangers. It lasted until multiple teams of armed forces were directed to their location. Luckily, they had Piper monitoring the police network to give them a heads up. They could not be arrested. Therefore, it was only logical to escape.

“Ford, get ready for take-off.” Natasha said through her earpiece. “Lexus, come get us out of here.”

"Copy that."

“Quake, armed forces incoming. Let’s go.”

Daisy heard Natasha’s words loud and clear. So, Daisy knocked the prince out and they all fled back to the spaceship, meeting Lexus in an alley nearby for instant transport. He had Trip with him to camouflage their escape route. As luck would have it, their ride was parked near the prince’s vessel, so the others were already there and they left the planet in haste.

They parted ways two days later.

~~~~####~~~~

“What do you mean they’re not there?”

“One party fled before we arrived at the scene. The other one was unconscious from the footage. But his people managed to grab him and escaped without a trace by the time we reached the area.”

The first person let loose a string of profanity that could put a sailor to shame. His subordinate was feeling very nervous. He never saw his superior acting this way. Granted, the destruction those people caused was quite extensive for something that started as a bar brawl. But no one else was injured except the tavern’s owner.

“What do you know about them?”

“They’re not from here.”

“Some outsiders created havoc on our planet. This is unacceptable!”

“There is one more thing.” He almost stuttered.

“What?”

“The male was identical to the crown prince of San-i-Taris.”

“Who?”

“The one we have our eyes on the slave trades.”

“Where are we on the investigation?”

“We just received some intel and evidence of his business.” His superior raised an eyebrow. “We also have witnesses. Someone saved them right before the fight was reported.”

“Then bump him up to most wanted list. We do not tolerate unsavoury criminals.”

“Yes sir.” He saluted and was about to leave the room before his superior called him.

“Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Who’s the other party?”

Now, this one he didn’t really want to address. Knowing what he knew of the second fighter, he’d rather not pursue her or suffer the consequences of ever being in her path. Besides, if even half of the stories he heard were true, then, they had better leave her be. His throat felt dry and he swallowed painfully.

“We believe her name is Quake. Some bystanders heard her friend called her that.”

The superior officer stiffened. “Are you saying the Space Menace was here?” His voice was hard.

“Yes, sir.”

“Take your team and find them.”

He hesitated at the order.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“I believe they’re no longer on Torak, sir.”

His superior seemed to mull on that.

“Very well. Put them on the most wanted list. Spread their posters far everywhere we can. If we saw them anywhere near this system, arrest them.”

“Yes sir.” He saluted and left that office hastily. He breathed easier knowing that he didn’t have to chase after the Space Menace. What his superior didn’t know was that he also heard that Quake was also known as the Destroyer of Worlds. He wouldn’t want to go against someone powerful who could destroy the world. He still wanted to continue living, thank you very much. Now, maybe he should just focus on monitoring the system for the prince's whereabouts. He might be easier to capture.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Back at present on Zephyr Two_ **

“Planet Torak. Remember?” Kevin offered sceptically.

“Oh.” She had totally forgotten the incident she helped escalate to such a disastrous degree not too many weeks ago. The rest of them were simply innocent bystanders – mostly. Well, only for the first few minutes though. Once the prince’s underlings realized what was really going on, all hell broke loose. That moved Natasha and Kevin to join the fray.

When Piper told them that the authority was en route, they hastily scrammed off of the planet in a hurry. Though maybe not fast enough. There were posters of the three of them all over the planet by the time Lexus got to them. Piper even saved a copy each before they left the backdoor of the planet’s communication system.

“Oh?” There was a collective huff of incredulity.

“Well, it’s not my fault the prince is a douchebag!”

“Yes, he is, but you just had to quake him and destroyed the whole tavern, which in turn caused a riot in the middle of the city.” Natasha remarked dryly.

Natasha would admit that getting to kick some ass was refreshing. They had been on the Zephyr for weeks, she almost got cabin fever. Spending time at the gym and sparring only did so much. She couldn’t compute how Daisy could stay sane all this years.

“There are wanted posters of us everywhere on that planet minutes after the commotion started.”

They tried to erase everything the planet might have on them within the hour after their escape but there might be some copies hidden somewhere, printed or otherwise. They also found videos of the fight as well as short clips of them in the tavern. Most were blurry but if the Torakins searched the security network, they might find a match to their faces from places they went to that day. Now, not only Daisy’s mug shot was everywhere, the others might lose their anonymity too after that visit.

“That was unintentional. It just happened.” She exclaimed exasperatedly. “He was groping my butt! I quaked him on reflex.”

“And when he realised who you were…you know what happened afterwards.” Kevin said dryly.

“Well, I didn’t start it.” That statement was met with raised eyebrows and amusement from the redhead, and looks of incredulity from the others.

“He threw the first punch. What I did was only an act of self-defence. Are you telling me that I should just let him hit me?”

“Daisy, no. I won’t fault you for defending yourself or any of us, but maybe tone it down a little. Less damage is always a plus.” Trip replied carefully, trying to pacify the Inhuman. He understood where Daisy came from. Sometimes, it was not easy to control your powers especially when you were surprised or emotionally compromised or even when you were trying to do good deeds.

“Anyway, now, we’re completely banned from ever landing on Torak. We are also being pursued by the prince half a galaxy away.”

“I’m a fugitive now. Again.”

“Oh, come on Kevin. Not that we plan to go there again anyway. Besides, we did the people a favour. The prince was smarmy. We exposed his despicable business venture. Who knows what his plans were on Torak.”

“Being hunted is kinda normal for us even back on earth. I’m used to it. I was once a wanted fugitive.” Natasha stated casually.

“Didn’t we all?”

They were on the run from a lot of people back then especially after SHIELD fell. Daisy erased her team. Natasha changed identities like she changed her clothes. Looking back, they did pretty well considering everything that had happened.

“The only difference is that this time, we’re in space. New experience, but similar method applies – we forge on. At least we freed the prince’s captives and now the Torakins are also hunting the asshole. In the end, it did bring about positive consequences though I supposed the method could be a bit more subtle.” 

“Natasha’s right. In this case, the end justifies the means.”

“Not to mention all the complimentary goods we got.” The redhead grinned wickedly, thinking about the new techs and weapons they liberated from the prince’s spaceship. Now she knew what Bleach Protocol meant – retrieve anything useful and leave no trace. Brilliant.

Daisy grinned for a while before she became quiet and looked pensively at the tablet in her hand.

“So, where do we go to refuel?”

There was only silence.

“Daisy?”

“Boss?”

Okay, now everyone was looking at Daisy, concerned. She was focusing on her tablet, quietly contemplating her decision. “How long do we have before that tank runs out?” She queried.

“It depends on how fast we move. If we’re going at this speed constantly, we have two weeks.” Davis responded, relieved to get the conversation back on track. “But if we’re involved in high speed pursuits, I would say four, five days max.”

Davis looked at her expectantly. The frown became even more pronounced. She was probably debating on how to refuel without causing trouble or to have it on the house. Again. Really, she did that since their first foray to outer space!

‘ _You’re gonna give it to me…on the house.’_

That was her catchphrase when she was being conspicuously wicked or when they did not have the money to pay. Admittedly, they didn’t even know what currency those aliens used at the time. Not that they got any crash course in space expedition prior to that. Obviously, it was usually followed with fights or coercion by Daisy and that was how Quake became notorious. The chaos was multiplied whenever these people tagged along. They did love causing mayhem. Davis was honest enough to say that he enjoyed it too.

People feared her and believed that she had a large crew or even an army. Some people even speculated that she was a daughter of a monarch, travelling the space because being a princess meant she had nothing else to do but slumming in on the outer brink of the galaxy. Some other believed that she was looking for a new territory to conquer on behest of her affluent parents. Sometimes, she played that role when she had to. However, every other time they did land somewhere, troubles followed.

“That’s not good. Prince Douchebag is still on our tail. We could come across him anytime.” Natasha said worriedly. They could fight a space war but not without fuel. They’d be sitting ducks.

“Daisy?”

She looked at Natasha blankly, trying to remember this part of space if there was anywhere they could go to refuel. Didn’t Simmons document this area when she joined one of her trips the previous year? Or was it Dr. Foster? She couldn’t really remember. Now, where was that chart of the system near this place? Her internal monologue continued as she searched her tablet even when the others kept on discussing their situation.

“Are we even near any planets or space stations? We haven’t seen any for a week already.” Kevin Carter was almost freaking out.

“Oh, are we landing somewhere?” Sharon sauntered into the common area near the bridge. “I could try finding some souvenirs.”

“I would like that too.” There was a collective agreement among the crew. The concern for their predicament was temporarily forgotten in the prospect of something exciting.

“We could restock our supplies.” Trip suggested. He would have to ask Piper about inventory on what to restock. 

“I could use some new weapons,” the Black Widow stated favorably.

“Could we try at least one alien food especially one that is freshly cooked?”

“Really Kevin? Food? Aren’t you afraid you might get poisoned?” Sharon sneered playfully.

"What's wrong with being a foodie?" 

And the siblings started their daily squabbling quota. The others simply let them. It was a common occurrence after all.

Trip was concerned that Daisy was too quiet and did not respond to anyone. She was still focusing on her tablet, working silently. On what? Trip had no idea. He could see that the others were feeling agitated again about their situation. So, he called her name again.

“Daisy?” The woman simply hummed, eyes on the tablet while her right hand petted the purring cat.

“Davis, steer to 15 degrees northwest from our trajectory, scan the area. The first potential planet or space station we see, we’ll dock. Let’s hope we can refuel there.” Daisy at last relayed her command, not bothering to look up from her tablet that she continued to kill, scowling all the way. Something on it must have bothered her so much. Probably a faulty program she was working on. Or a game she was losing. That had been known to happen before.

Relieved that now, he had something to do; Davis immediately scanned the sector for a possible refueling place. Trip then went to help him. Two sets of eyes were better than one anyway. Both had similar train of thoughts – a high probability that trouble was on the horizon what with their troublemaking crew. Well, at least they could get the Zephyr refueled and replenished their food. It made escaping hostile people a lot easier.


	5. Chapter 5

After they passed by the second planet, the crew began to get a bit anxious. Would they be able to refuel soon? Daisy was not worried though. What the others didn’t know was that the Zephyr Two had a second fueling/energy system; and a third, and a fourth if they were really in a bind.

It wasn’t like she purposely hid the information within the system or had it hidden in the Zephyr’s blueprint. She simply remodeled the energy room and an empty chamber next to it into smaller partitions during the previous trip and didn’t even bother to label or update the renovation with other people. Granted that besides Piper, the others were not among the crew on that particular expedition.

As far as she knew, F.I.L.I.A. – the Zephyr’s artificial intelligence that ran the whole spaceship was fully informed about it. Daisy would know that as she did the maintenance on a regular basis. Fitz knew it too when he ran the compulsory check on the Zephyr before they embarked on this trip. They just never bothered to record the changes nor tell anyone else about it.

In addition to that, she hadn’t had the chance to make adjustment to the fueling system’s code. Hence, the control panel in the cockpit only read the data from partition #1. Supposedly, the A.I. would inform them before the ship changed energy sourcing to the other partitions. However, since they were still using partition #1, F.I.L.I.A. had no reason to announce that information.

Nevertheless, she decided not to tell them about this. Not yet anyway. It was better to stock up and spare their reserves. They might need those sooner or later. Besides, she’d like to stretch her legs a bit and knowing where they were headed, she also had a plan. Maybe made some fortunes or just to see how much more notorious she had become since the last fiasco. Better to keep tab on that for safety precaution, of course. Furthermore, this could be a chance for the others to experience space travel.

By the time they reached a moon station (yes, it was a station located on a moon of a planet), a week had already passed by. Those on Z2 was relieved and prepared to dock when permission was given as soon as communication was established with the control center – obviously under an assumed vessel name. One should not expect the renowned Quake, The Space Menace extraordinaire to be truthful when plentiful of bounties was offered on her head – dead or alive.

While Daisy and Piper dealt with the hassle of refueling, the others went to tour the moon station. Assured that the others were buying the stuff they’d written on the list for them, the two agents put their feet up at the lounge nearby the hangar. Daisy also had her pet flerken on the table between them. While waiting for the process to finish, they played cards – one of the popular alien card games – something they learned to be very well-liked by aliens in this quadrant. 

“So–” Piper started. Her hands expertly shuffled the cards and placed a few in front of them before putting the rest of the deck in the middle of the table.

Daisy looked up. She seemed vaguely amused. “So?”

“You knew we’re heading this way, and yet you let them freaked out for a week.” She grinned.

“Eh, you knew that too. I wonder why you didn’t say anything.” Daisy said, raising her eyebrow.

“Since you kept quiet, I didn’t want to step on your toes.” She tried to deflect innocently, but failed when Daisy snorted.

Piper never held her tongue with Daisy if she had anything to say. They had been through so many things together throughout the years. Piper had always had her back no matter what, including keeping her secrets. They were more friends than co-workers. Most of the time, they dismissed the agent-commander dynamic except when the situations called for it.

“But we both know there is reserved energy to run the Zephyr. We don’t really have to refuel every so often.” She eyed her boss inquisitively. In fact, they could go on for months even with all the running away from high speed pursuits, probably longer if what Daisy told her was possible. Something about a renewable energy source they came upon some time ago.

“Well, we do but they don’t know that. Besides, it’ll be a good experience for them. Studying charts and calculating distance and the like. Finding ways to survive in space. Didn’t you see how everyone was suddenly becoming aspiring space scientists?” Daisy chuckled impishly.

Her mirth seemed to be infectious as both of them burst into laughter. It was not every day you see formidable and cool agents like their crew mates to freak out so obviously. Better not let them find out that she knew about the energy reserves though. Invisible knives, bullets and Widow’s bites might be thrown her way. She might also be drugged or worst, poisoned. She wouldn’t put it past them to do that.

“Why this station though? There was a space station and a commercial planet nearer to our location. Here, is practically in the orbit of Torak.” Piper could guess why though. Daisy Johnson was just being her mischievous self. Or maybe too into her head by thinking they could outrun the planet’s space force should they caught words of their visit to the station. That suicidal tendency had never left her after all these years.

Daisy (and by extension all her crew) was banned from ever showing her face on that planet. She believed her WANTED posters were still on display everywhere there. It was the only place that had most of their faces – at least vaguely. She was sure there were still recordings of them fighting on Torak. Piper supposed that there might be a Torakin on this moon station that might recognize her. If that happened, then, Davis and the Clan better hurried back onboard.

“I heard many Torakins frequent this place. And I also found out that he’s coming this way.” The Inhuman smirked roguishly.

“Who’s he?” When Daisy smirked again, realization dawned on Piper. “That douchebag prince? How the heck do you know that?”

“Tracker. Directly within their control system. Which I may have or may have not set their course towards this place.” She explained smugly.

Oh. Oh…She could infer that her boss might plan to create trouble here on the moon station and let her two pursuers/foes battled it out. Most importantly, Daisy Johnson got away scot-free. With regard to tracking the prince, Piper was not expecting that.

“How the heck did you do that?” It was a rhetorical question. Her captain was amazing in everything techs. But this was something else. She actually hijacked a spaceship remotely. How, no, when did she sneak into his ship? Piper recalled that only four people went in to free those poor people the prince captured. Wasn’t Daisy at the tavern the whole time?

Oh…she could have sent one of the Daisybots to plant the tracker. Did they even have any of those on the Zephyr anymore? She remembered the one they installed on the ghost ship they helped a few years ago. Halting that train of thoughts, Piper planned to check on that later.

“When I told Lexus to probe the system, he knew what I really meant by it.”

“So Bleach Protocol was not at 100%.”

“Oh, it was. I just gave him a side mission.” The brunette grinned. Ah, side missions. Daisy always had those. Sometimes, their missions were two-pronged, or maybe more. There was always something else to do alongside the main assignment. And truthfully, Piper found their side missions were more fun and profitable than not. At times, she couldn’t believe she ended up being Piper, agent of SHIELD and thief and occasionally terrorist. Oh, a fugitive too. At least in space. She cringed internally.

“You want him to be occupied with the Torakin force.” Yup she got it, alright. Daisy Johnson, a wicked genius strategist just orchestrated Prince Asshole’s probable capture, ridding him out of the picture permanently. No wonder she was in disguise. Similar to the one she donned on the exoplanet. Piper suspected that she wanted him to recognize her right away. Then, during the chaos, the Z2 would leave and perhaps the prince would be forever incarcerated.

Keeping their senses alert, they continued playing cards and discussing their strategy concerning the prince’s incarceration.

“I got a feeling that is not the only reason we’re here.” Daisy’s expression didn’t change but there was a glint of wickedness in her eyes.

“Hmm…there is an intel of interest to me from Lexus’ probe.” She raised her chin a bit and their eyes met. “This is where you come in.”

So, Daisy began telling Piper her plan and Piper’s role in it.

“Interesting.”

Not long after that, there were more people near them who wanted to join the game. So, they let them play along and played them for their fortunes. When those aliens lost the bets, many more wanted to go against them. Enough to say that they just illegally opened a gambling corner at the refueling station.

At one point, a station attendant informed them that their spaceship was filled up to the max. Daisy handed him a money card (yes, aliens community did have a specific currency that they used intergalactically and they put the amount on a card/chip) that was used around this sector of the quadrant in this particular side of the universe they were travelling in.

So, Piper went to check on the spaceship. Once she was satisfied that nothing was amiss, she left the Zephyr. She also made double sure that their ride was locked and secured before returning to the table, with a little detour. Didn’t she mention side missions just now?

Someone had apparently taken her seat. So, she settled on standing outside the circle of gamblers, eyes alert for any nonsense. Daisy was winning most of the time. Those who lost had left, except a few who were still waiting for their ships to finish refueling.

Piper could see that the pouch, which her commander stashed her winnings in, was full. There was a full satchel as well. How the hell did that happen so fast? She left for less than 20 minutes, she thought admirably.

The Inhuman probably won some weapons or bulky treasures. Or she played dirty. Piper knew she did that once in a while (okay, most of the time especially if Chewie was around) if her opponents were jerks or the bets were too valuable to forfeit. But mostly it was just simply to live up to her reputation.

Piper saw Daisy fiddling with her gauntlets. It was a different pair than the one she usually wore. Now, she was certain the Inhuman cheated. Those gauntlets of hers had received some modifications (at the same time the Zephyr had) that proved to be interesting and she utilized them unabashedly frequently for illegal reasons. They may not be as cool as Coulson’s prosthetic but still pretty cool. And she always won a fortune in gambling every time she put them on, clearly unfairly.

Everything seemed to be going fine. There was no commotion in other areas of the moon station. This could be a trouble-free stop for them. Here she was hoping that Davis and the Carter Clan could keep themselves occupied without being involved in trouble. Daisy was still winning and as such, those folks both admired and hated her for it.

Piper was relaxing against the wall near the water cooler, when she noticed someone with a powerful stature walked purposefully towards the gambling table. Other people parted like the Red Sea to allow him some space to walk towards the table. The one sitting opposite Daisy stood abruptly, before they began a new round.

Uh-oh. There could be trouble. Piper swore. She knew that she shouldn’t jinx it.


	6. Chapter 6

Daisy was lounging at the waiting area of the refueling station, planning and playing people for their fortunes as Piper checked on the Zephyr. Meanwhile, at another part of the station, the other crew members of Zephyr Two were happily shopping. More like window shopping. They finished buying most of the supplies they needed. Sending Davis back to the plane with their shopping bags (as he’d finished his), they continued perusing other materials.

Kevin Carter was tasting and buying food, hoping that he wouldn’t get food poisoning or worst, poisoned to death. For easy reference, he wrote some notes on the packages.

On the other side of the market center, the others were checking out other merchandise. The Black Widow and Sharon Carter were browsing some weapons. A variety of guns, knives, and swords were put on display. They even sold boomerangs with electrical bites and whips that could emit lasers with a touch of a button. Natasha was seriously contemplating on purchasing them. It was a leisurely outing for them after days of being cooped up on the Zephyr.

Well, until it’s not…

Kevin was walking happily towards Trip, munching on an alien treat (of unknown origin, mind you; but it tasted like marshmallow) when someone bumped into him.

“Oof. I’m sorry.” He quickly apologized. But the girl just stared at him.

“No, no, I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She snapped out of her trance but was still staring at him, making him feel uncomfortable.

Kevin thrust his hand to help the girl up. She thanked him and still looked at him as if trying to recall his face from memory. He felt as though he was being studied under a microscope.

“I’ve seen you before.”

“I don’t think so. This is my first time here.”

“No. I’ve seen you somewhere. A video. Not too long ago.”

Uh oh. This was bad. Was it the one on Torak? He was there during the fight between Daisy and the prince.

“Really? Where was it?”

“On Torak.”

Shit. They must have captured their faces clearly for some random stranger to be able to recognize him.

“I’m sure you got the wrong person. I just arrived at this section.” He tried to steer the conversation away from that topic. In fact, he wanted to get away from this woman. He needed to warn the rest of the team so that they’d leave the station ASAP.

However, before he could excuse himself, someone bumped into the woman and she fell sideways on him. Kevin acted swiftly and broke her fall. The woman stiffened and her face reddened. She looked uncomfortable. Kevin didn’t like that. It took him a while to realize the cause of her discomfort. There was something soft and squishy in his hand. Something that felt uncannily like boobs. Oops. He promptly set her upright and retracted his hand. He apologized profusely for accidentally groping her.

“Get your hands off her!” An angry voice boomed behind them. Kevin turned his head and saw a large man…er…alien marched briskly towards them. He was practically a giant and he looked furious. Face red of anger (or was that his real skin color?), eyes glinted with blatant rage and nostrils flared. Hell, you could see steam coming out of his ears.

The giant grabbed Kevin’s collar and lifted him off the floor. Feet dangling, Kevin tried to escape the firm grip and called out to the others. Luckily, Trip heard the giant yelled a moment ago and was looking in his direction.

“What the heck?” Trip, immediately called the others and tilted his head towards Kevin who was thrown into a stall. “Girls? We need to go. Like, right now.” They saw Kevin defending himself from a large guy. Evading him made the big alien even more furious that he attacked aimlessly. At one point, when Kevin dodged one of his punches, he hit a bystander who was instantly enraged and attacked the duo.

“I guess we better vamoose before things get nasty. Sharon, get your brother. Trip, secure escape route.” They needed to make sure they escaped without people realized it. Wouldn’t want anyone to recognize them.

Trip was eyeing her dubiously. “And what are you going to do?”

The redhead smirked gleefully. Grinning evilly, she shrugged. “I’m the Black Widow. I don’t share my trade. But rest assured I’ll finish the job.” She winked and signaled them to ‘ _get a move on,_ _people_.’

So, Sharon jogged to her brother, while Trip moved to the entrance. Meanwhile, Natasha caused a commotion by causing misunderstandings and jostling (and secretly hit) the onlookers whose idea of settling problems was through fists into each other. Thus, adding to the number of fights that transpired simultaneously.

This led to damaged stalls. Then, more people joined the brawl – the visitors and business owners alike. It turned into a fight for all. It was a chaotic situation. The market was now a fighting ring. Everybody was fighting each other. It left the exit cleared of the clutter of people as the fight was mostly in the middle of the market area. That however sort of blocked her easy escape.

‘Oh well, don’t say I never try not to not knock people out.’ Muttering under her breath, the Black Widow threw the crafted boomerang she studied a few minutes ago that she conveniently forgot to put back at the booth, to the group who were blocking her path. Wisps of electrical current assaulted her victims and they fell to the ground writhing in agony.

“Huh? A boomerang taser. Not bad.” She admired the weapon’s potential. Not one to waste time, she hopped over them (or stepped on and hit whoever in her path) towards the exit, catching the boomerang on the way. Maybe one day, she got to try the whip too. Natasha also surreptitiously pocketing a few other stuff from the wreckage of stalls that were on her path, using some of them to clear the blockage of bodies towards the exit. That may have made more mess than she intended. Oh well, at least they got out of there unscathed.

When Natasha spotted the other three by the exit, she dashed towards them. She slowed down near the exit as her eyes caught something interesting pasted on the wall. So, ignoring the frantic waves and calls from the Trip, Sharon and Kevin, she made a detour to it and grabbed whatever caught her interest before she joined the others.

Their comms suddenly crackled at that moment. Piper was telling them to hurry up. Leaving the commotion, damaged stalls and unconscious aliens behind them, they sprinted towards the docking bay, headed for the Zephyr. 

~~~~####~~~~

**_Back to Daisy and the Illegal Gambling Corner_ **

A new opponent appeared in front of her. She wondered who he could be with the way the others behaved at his presence.

‘Hmm…a big fish huh? Daisy was appraising the new guy discreetly. Keeping to her cover as an amazing hustler, she returned his nod and canted her head to the seat in front of her.

So, Daisy started a new hand. Making small talk during a card game would throw concentration off, but Daisy let him; all the while she was gauging the level of threat he could be. The new guy was good. He almost cleaned the table a few times.

However, Daisy decided not to let her winning streak stopped. Naturally, she made sure that the favors returned to her (just that once…okay twice out of three rounds, so far). By using all the tricks up her sleeves. Yes, ALL. That included utilizing her lucky pair of gauntlets. Fortunately, they had a function that was similar to Trip’s power – camouflage, among others.

After a few rounds and a long-winded speech from him, plus one of the dullest conversations she ever had the unfortunate luck to be in, Daisy found out that the big guy was the proprietor of this joint. Oh. A really big fish then. She smirked internally.

Piper saw Davis entered the refueling dock just in time to see Daisy beat up the owner of the station in card games and won a fortune. She immediately signaled Davis to go straight to the Zephyr and got ready ASAP. It was almost showdown.

_A few minutes later…_

She was losing. This one was not easy to use her tricks to win lest she got caught cheating. And Chewie could only do so much to lend her a helping hand. Not when the boss man wasn’t fond of cats.

She was debating whether to continue or not. To fold or not to fold? She almost decided to forfeit the game when she saw the long awaited Prince Douchebag finally entered the room. Looking at Piper, she tilted her chin indicating her to call the others and proceed as planned.

Not wasting a second more, Piper reached out to the others on comms, she told them to hurry back – they were leaving. Frowning, she swore she heard the sound of fighting in the background. Then, she fetch Daisy’s pet flerken and left towards the Zephyr. Once aboard, she slipped on one of the uniforms she pilfered earlier and walked stealthily towards the docking groove that held the prince’s spaceship.

Pretending to be a station attendant, she lingered there, waiting for the crew to leave the vessel. She had a mission to carry out with only a short window of time to do that before the prince recognized her boss or had his ass kicked by Daisy. That never took long to happen once they laid eyes on each other.

One thing they liked about the prince and his henchmen was that they didn’t take safety seriously. The security of the ship was so lacking when she managed to infiltrate under a minute. Admittedly, she used a device Daisy gave her to hack the system, but still it was so abysmal that she wondered how it was possible when they could build such a high tech intergalactic starship.

There were a few of the prince’s men onboard but none were as alert as they should be. The others had all followed his royal pain in the ass to roam the station. It wasn’t a hard task to evade them. Those who saw her were introduced to ICERs before they even managed to make a sound. She spent more time hiding the bodies than on her actual assignment.

Piper had a mission, given to her during the card game they played earlier. As they discussed before, she brought Chewie onto the prince’s vessel. She put him in a makeshift baby pouch under her stolen overall. There were a few artifacts she had to procure and the cat knew which one. Besides, he could also be the carrier, what with the many dimensions in his stomach they can use to store the items.

It didn’t take long for things to go into chaos. She had just finished her intended mission and was about to reach the ramp of the spaceship when she heard the prince roared angrily and immediately attacked Daisy.

His enraged outcry caused his still conscious underlings to pour out of the spaceship to help him, which caused her to immediately hide behind a large container. An open container. She took a peek inside once there were no more men running out. To her delight, she saw some items that might be useful for them later on. The prince must have had it after their clash on Torak or the team would have confiscated everything during their last raid.

She didn’t linger for long before she rushed over towards the Zephyr. It was a good thing she brought the flerken with her. They were able to misappropriate a good amount of items from the large container that Piper had the cat swallowed. Once inside the Z2, she got out of the stolen uniform and put Chewie where he would be safe.

At the lounge area, it was bedlam. The place immediately became a disaster zone. Daisy took that interruption to end the card game prematurely. If she surreptitiously swiped all the money wagered and her winnings on the table, no one would know as everybody was busy saving themselves or fighting each other.

And Piper called Davis to be ready and the Zephyr began idling quietly, all set to leave at a moment's notice. At the same time, she saw the rest of their crew entering the docking bay. All was okay. All pieces were in place. It was time to get out of dodge.


	7. Chapter 7

Sharon, Kevin, Trip and Natasha arrived at the docking bay just in time to see Daisy quaked Prince Douchebag’s ass and all his entourage; damaging parts of the station along the way. The owner got angry. He demanded to be compensated for it. To placate him, Daisy offered Prince Douchebag and told the station’s proprietor that he was a very rich prince, (after she searched him discreetly for another money card) and he did owe her a lot.

However, she didn’t tell him that the Torakins were hunting the prince too. It was a win-win-win situation. As far as Daisy Johnson was concerned, the prince was not her problem and she would not have to pay for the damage. Besides, when the Torakins arrived, Z2 would have already gone. It was a perfect tactic. She may not be a great strategist like Commander Hill but she could do good tactical planning.

Scanning his face confirmed his identity and the station’s owner agreed to Daisy’s offer. They were about to shake hands when the prince woke up and started to attack Daisy. Again! Apparently, he didn’t learn his lessons. There was no point in attacking Quake mindlessly or even strategically. He would not win. Seeing that their prince was fighting again, his followers resumed their fight with the station guards. Mr. Owner was unfortunately knocked out in the midst of the fracas.

It was taking the Torakin Space Force far too long to arrive. Daisy knew that they were on course straight for the station ages ago. She had F.I.L.I.A. hacked into the station’s surveillance system. When the A.I. relayed to her the arrival of the space force, she proceeded with the next step in her plan. The duration the troop took to dock was a fortunate delay for the Z2 team. It gave them just enough time to leave right before the station was raided by the authority.

She was annoyed that she was wasting time dealing with these people when all she wanted was to board his ship to retrieve an artifact he stole from her (she’d just going to brush aside the fact that the prince already found it before she arrived at the location), which she only realized after Lexus’ probe and left the place undetected.

Luckily, Piper was a capable agent. She had already informed Daisy of the successful assignment. If she asked the agent to acquire more than one item, it was for compensation of Daisy’s time and energy plotting all this.

Prince Asshole was annoying her to no end. So, of course she quaked him a few times against the wall where he lay unconscious, again, until the Torakin Space Force arrived. The same fate befell his men. She also planted more evidence of his illegal business on his person as well as on the prince’s vessel. That ought to put him behind bars for a long time.

It was a shame that people wouldn’t know it was her and her team who were cleaning up the space from vile pests like the prince. They probably considered the team among the ranks too what with all the mayhem they were involved in all these years. Whatever. No prince meant fewer headaches for her. It was a good riddance nonetheless.

When the Torakin Space Force spaceship docked in one of the docking grooves on the moon station, they saw the prince (who was listed on their MOST WANTED list) lay unconscious and all his men were already bound and sported a few bruises here and there.

When the prince awoke a few minutes later, angrily spitting ‘that imbecile’, ‘space menace’ and ‘Quake’ plus a few other very colorful choices of words, the visitors on the station belatedly realized that they just encountered Quake, the Space Menace and her troop. Many despised her. A lot more feared her. Yet, all of them begrudgingly admired her for many reasons they just would not admit.

Those who played cards against her heard of her prowess in card games before and witnessed firsthand how brilliant she was at it. She won loads of fortunes for an hour of card games. Even the owner of the moon station lost thousands and some valuable treasures to her. What they were unaware of was that she was a sly hustler.

She believed that being unscrupulous was a trait the Space Menace should have. But truthfully, Daisy Johnson was a sore loser. Hence, the fraudulent jobs she committed. Cheating at card games was one of them. Besides, she had a reputation to maintain. For her, being the Space Menace, losing was not an option.

In addition, being ruthless instilled fears. Thus, keeping her crew safe – theoretically. And if they were not afraid of her, she promised to spread the rumours of her being the Destroyer of Worlds. Not that such effort was needed. It was also already a well-known moniker for Quake, although it was not as wide spread as being the menace.

The prince later realized that his ship had been compromised by Quake’s crew, looted of valuables especially the special ones that were stored in his private quarter of which he didn’t dare informed his captor. Some parts of the vessel were damaged. Little did they know, those were caused by a specific feline’s claws. The flerken did have his favourite human at a very high esteem. No one messed with his master. Besides, it was fair that he could get his revenge for his unmerited imprisonment back on the prince’s home planet until Daisy broke him out a few years ago.

The Menace even left a calling card, scribbled on the money card (the one she used to pay for the fuel earlier – now with little to no money left), which as it turned out, belonged to him. She must have stolen from him during their face off on Torak. That pissed him off a lot more. Expletives and threats were heard from the prince as he was dragged all the way to the Torakin Space Force’s vessel.

The Torakins were irritated that they were unsuccessful in apprehending Quake – the menacing Terran that caused chaos on Torak not long ago. However, they were appeased by the capture of the prince who was the other party in the commotion with Quake. With the evidence that was mysteriously sent to them as well as what they found on his ship, they could also charge the prince of slave trading and a number of other crimes. If they got their way, the prince would serve a lifetime in a cell.

Among the troop was a lieutenant loaned from the planet’s Urban Police Force. And he was happy that Quake was not at the station when they arrived. His effort to delay the vessel from docking just now paid off. She was no longer there.

He heard of stories that would land him in jail if people knew he admired the Space Menace and agreed to some deeds she committed. He did believe that Quake was better roaming the space freely than being stuck in a prison cell.

He also had a hunch that she and her team was the party that rescued the group of people who was almost sold as slaves. From what the victims told them about their saviours and the snippets he heard about everyone that caused trouble at the station (as they later found out the mess at the bazaar), he had no doubt that Quake was behind it all. If that was true, then he had all the faith in the universe that Quake was also the one who forwarded those incriminating evidence against the prince.

He scoffed at the troop’s indignation at missing the Space Menace. As if Quake would let them catch her. She was the Destroyer of Worlds for goodness sake! Now that they got the prince, his job was done. He just had to evade relaying any news about that woman and her crew to his boss.

~~~~####~~~~

The Zephyr Two left the moon station speedily, leaving the station in shambles and their reputations through the roof. Davis activated light speed mode to distance themselves far, far away from that part of the galaxy. They were going to another sector anyway.

One of the upsides of the excursion was that they would not have to deal with the prince for a long time. Less one tenacious enemy. In addition, they got free fuel, free treasures, as well as free weapons and ammo. The weapons Natasha, Sharon and Trip were checking out at the market were still with them – unpaid. They didn’t mean for it to happen this way (except on Daisy’s part. She was satisfied she accomplished her side missions). It just did.

Let’s just say that stocking the Z2 up was easy enough. It just took time and money unless you’re in space. Well, you still needed both while out there. But rest assured, with The Space Menace onboard, everything was on the house. In fact, you’d probably get complimentary side benefits, like weapons and valuable stuff whether intentional or not – on the house of course.

~~~~####~~~~

Back on the Moon Station, specifically the market area stood its owner who was speechless, until he was not.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!?”

Needless to say, the proprietor of that place was livid. And when he realized that the fight was started by Quake’s companions, the spectators swore that they heard him shouted, “QUAKE? The Space Menace was HERE!?”

Others on the moon station speculated that Mr. Owner played card games with Quake herself and he didn’t even recognize her. Hell nobody did. Did anyone mention that their WANTED posters were also on the moon station in abundant? Nope. She was that good and the aliens were just too ignorant to notice. And to add to their ignorance, not only the Torakins distributed mug shots of Daisy, Natasha and Kevin, they also had posters (though a bit blurry) of the rest of the crew.

The posters were the things Natasha grabbed as they exited the market place. They served as a reminder of their fugitive status. If nothing else, they could keep them as souvenirs and proof of their shenanigans for posterity.

One thing for sure, he was not compensated. No prince, no money, no free repairs. All because of that bloody Quake being a menace to the space community. YET AGAIN! And her mischief was shared across the universe by those who were there that day – that should one encountered Quake, be prepared for the chaos she’d wreck.

This particular shenanigan at this particular moon station involving one particular asshole prince and an amazing prowess in playing cards, plus the pandemonium caused by her crew catapulted her name to a pre-eminent feat. From then on, the space was full of chatter about ‘that Space Menace, Quake – and sometimes they added ‘and her HooligansTM, – that could be heard far and wide. On some occurrences, one could hear ‘the Destroyer’ was also thrown in conversations, which made some people quaked in their boots - most probably those who encountered Quake and lived to tell the tales.

From this time forth, let it be known that Quake’s reputation as The Space Menace flourished to a legendary proportion – a remarkable accomplishment for one Daisy Johnson. That fame brought positive and negative consequences. Nevertheless, witnesses confirmed that the Inhuman Terran was definitely pleased with her prominent status and not feeling sorry at all. In fact, she embraced and exercised that reputation undisputedly in her travels across the vast universe.

~ THE END ~


End file.
